


Hare to Stay

by FrenchRoast



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2015-10-15
Packaged: 2018-04-08 00:59:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4284612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrenchRoast/pseuds/FrenchRoast
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Belle brings home a new pet</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: Fluffy

He can’t stop staring…but that doesn’t mean he’s lost his capacity to speak.

“Just what the hell _is_ that?”

Belle bent over the large crate and hefted up what could only be described as the largest cotton ball with ears ever to exist.

“She’s a rabbit, Rumple. I know you’ve seen rabbits before.” Belle nestled her face deep into the creature’s soft, fluffy fur. 

Rumple shook his head. “No, that can’t be. That is not a real rabbit, Belle. Surely not. Not unless it’s been fed something from Wonderland.”

Belle’s response was to snuggle the giant bunny even more. “Her name is Fluffy,” she informed him, “and she’s a Flemish giant.”

“Fluffy. Fluffy the giant.”

“Yes, Fluffy. Because she is. Come on,” Belle said as she held Fluffy out. There were long white strands of fur covering Belle’s normally pristine blouse. “Feel how soft she is.”

Despite his better judgement, Rumple did as Belle requested and gingerly reached out to pet Fluffy. 

She _was_ soft. 

“But Belle…when you said you were bringing a surprise home, I thought you meant hamburgers from Granny’s, or maybe a new book. Not this,” he said. He was still petting Fluffy, though he wasn’t holding her. Yet. Fluffy’s ears twitched, and her large, doe-like eyes stared up at him as she rested in Belle’s arms.

“I think she likes you, Rumple,” Belle said as she handed Fluffy to him. Never mind he hadn’t asked her to. He stood there, still in the grey suit he’d worn at work all day in the pawn shop, now holding a rabbit the size of a border collie. _I am never going to get all of this fur off of my suit,_ he thought.

“Let me guess—you want to keep her?”

Belle smiled. “I wouldn’t have brought her home otherwise.”

“But how will we feed her? A rabbit this size will eat us out of house and home,” he protested, even though he knew it was in vain. He couldn’t deny Belle a pet. Not even one as unexpected as this.

“We have a garden in the back. And I bet Granny will give me scraps from the diner if I ask nicely…or if I pretend you don’t like Fluffy. She’ll probably bring Fluffy regular meals if she thinks you dislike having her around.”

“Where did you even find her?”

“Did I forget to tell you I’m volunteering at the animal shelter on Thursdays while Ruby does story-time? Because I am. And they didn’t have anywhere to put her, and we have so much room…you don’t mind terribly if we keep her, do you, Rumple?” Now Belle was looking at him with big, doe-like eyes, and he was even more powerless to resist her.

_This is my life now,_ Rumple realized. _Belle is slowly going to turn me from Dark One to Zookeeper. Or at least Zookeeper’s bitch._ He sighed, and a resigned grin danced over his lips. “Of course you can keep Fluffy, my dear. If having her makes you happier, that’s all I want.” He was _still_ holding Fluffy. Holding her was like clutching a very dense cloud. “Maybe I should put her in the garden?”

“That would be wonderful.”

Rumple carried Fluffy outside, setting her carefully onto the ground next to the parsnip plot. Rumple had never been fond of parsnips, even though he’d planted some every year that he’d been under the Curse. Maybe Fluffy would be good for something beyond simply making Belle happy.

Rumple drew himself up and addressed Fluffy. “You can eat all the parsnips you want, Fluffy. The Dark One permits it. The rutabegas and the turnips, too. I’m not even sure why I planted them,” he told the bunny. “Must have been part of the Curse,” he mused aloud. “Nevermind. You just…stay alive. Alive and happy so Belle will be happy,” he instructed Fluffy. “She’s been through enough; I won’t have you dying on her like a goldfish.”

Fluffy jiggled her little bunny cotton tail.

“That better be you agreeing,” he said as he bent down to bring his face menacingly close. “Anyone else can tell you—never mess with the Dark One,” Rumple said sternly. As sternly as any grown man can say anything to a giant bunny rabbit. He stood back up. “And if you’re the Easter bunny, or are friends with ‘em, I want proper yellow Peeps next time. Not any of that purple or green oddness.”

Rumple wasn’t positive, but he thought he saw Fluffy wink in response. That weirded him out enough to go back inside, only to find that Belle had set the table. She was pulling 2 hamburger patties from the broiler, and on the kitchen counter lay all the fixings for hamburgers. 

“I forgot to tell you,” Belle said in that way that meant she definitely hadn’t forgotten at all, “I stopped by Granny’s and picked up dinner on my way home. Thought you might want a burger after you got used to the shock of Fluffy.”

“I am a lucky man,” Rumple declared as he grabbed the ketchup bottle.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fluffy meets some of the other residents of Storybrooke.

" _What_ is _that_?" were the first words Regina uttered when she noticed a ring of Storybrooke citizens around Fluffy. She had come to the library to pick up Henry, who was nowhere to be seen.

"That," Rumplestiltskin said as he walked over to where Regina stood, "is Fluffy."

"I realize whatever it is, it's fluffy," Regina said with an eye roll. "My question was more about what kind of creature it is."

"Fluffy happens to be the creature's name. And the creature is actually a Flemish Giant rabbit."

"Looks more like an oversized dandelion puff." Regina crossed her arms and looked away from the crowd around the bunny to see if she could spy Henry anywhere. But her gaze kept returning to Fluffy.

Rumplestiltskin grinned. "Actually, I prefer to think of Fluffy as an enormous cotton ball. A cotton ball that does little beyond gorge itself on my vegetable garden."

"So what's it doing here? For that matter, why is Captain Guyliner hugging it out with the giant rabbit?"

Indeed, Captain Hook did have his arms around the fluffy white bunny, and the effect was just as comedic as anyone would've imagined it to be. His head was buried in the bunny's neck, and were those...tears? At the same time, Belle was trying to make sure Hook didn't skewer Fluffy with his hook. In the future, Belle would have to request that he remove the hook before cuddling with Fluffy.

"Therapy."

"Therapy. Right. Don't tell me you've turned Dr. Hopper into yet another creature that hops." _Not that I'd be overly sad if things were to end up that way,_ Regina thought to herself. Then she spotted Henry, walking up with an armful of books. She waved to catch his attention.

"His grasshopper form was not my fault, I can assure you," Rumplestiltskin said. He chuckled lightly. "And no, this is not Dr. Hopper--though that would've been a clever name."

Regina ignored the almost compliment. "How does a rabbit offer therapy? Some kind of magic eggs or something?"

"It's apparently a very common treatment in this realm to have animals brought in for therapeutic reasons. Belle says rabbits are supposed to be very soothing, even if you're simply petting them. So now Belle brings the ginormous bunny to the library for 'Fluffy Fridays,' and anyone who desires may have their moment with the bunny."

Regina stared at him for a moment. "And how does Dr. Hopper feel about the intrusion on his clientele?" she asked as she steered Henry to the checkout counter. Belle had left the rabbit ring and was making her way to the counter as well.

"I believe his exact words were 'Thank you, Belle. This town has too much PTSD for me to treat on my own.' And then he inquired as to how he might acquire one for himself."

Regina couldn't deny the truth of that observation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For more on therapeutic bunnies (yes, it's a real thing!), check out iorekskaat.org
> 
> Also, while I hadn't intended on writing more in this verse, I got a prompt, so...that's why there's more.


End file.
